The Sword of the Goblins
by GoddessofWight
Summary: What happened to the sword of Gryffindor after the final battle.
1. Harry redeems a promise

Harry Potter walked into the familiar snowy white building with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. As they walked to the door, Ron was still arguing, "It came back to Hogwarts on its own. That shows it belongs there!"

"Ron, we've been over this." Harry said, "I promised."

"But that was before!" he said, but he broke off when they reached the marble counter.

Harry walked up to one of the available goblins, "I'd like to see Griphook, please. Please tell him Harry Potter is here."

"I know who you are," the goblin said ringing a bell. A goblin had run up in response to the bell. "This is Grathnor. He will take you take you to Griphook."

The goblin indicated they should follow him. Harry automatically walked towards the door that lead to the vaults, but changed course as the goblin walked around the counter to a different door. It opened to another rock cavern. He looked at Hermione, puzzled.

"You know they prefer to work underground," she hissed at him.

They followed the goblin down a trail passing side caverns along the way containing other goblins and wizards bent over accounting ledgers, writing memos that flew around the caverns delivering themselves, speaking into fires, or to each other. "Bank Business," Grathnor mentioned, unnecessarily.

Finally they stopped at a cavern. Grathnor poked his head in and announced, "Harry Potter."

Harry looked in and saw Griphook seated behind a desk talking to another goblin. The last time he'd seen Griphook, the goblin had left him in the Lestranges bank vault to be captured by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. The goblin had been on the run at the time, but Harry had heard he'd returned to the bank after the Voldemort's defeat. Harry was surprised to realize he didn't feel any anger towards Griphook. He realized with a start that he recognized the goblin Griphook was with as well. After he'd broken into the Lestranges vault to steal the cup of Helga Hufflepuff which contained a fragment of Voldemort's soul, this goblin had been the one to explain to Lord Voldemort what had happened.

Harry entered the room. Hermione and Ron followed him. "Hello Harry Potter." Griphook said. Harry looked at Hermione who opened her bag and pulled out a large sword with a ruby encrusted hilt. He took it from her and laid it on the goblin's desk. "As I promised."

Griphook ran a finger down the blade, "How did you get this?"

"The Hogwarts sorting hat. It knew we needed it to defeat Lord Voldemort." Harry could see it again as clearly as it had happened only moments before, Neville Longbottom being forced into the sorting sat, pulling the sword of Gryffindor, slicing off the head of Voldemort's pet and horcrux, Nagini. "But it's done. And we made a deal. You helped us in exchange for this. Here it is."

Beside him Ron looked pained.

"You kept your word, Harry Potter. I did not think you would." Griphook said.

"I might not have given it to you when you left with it." Harry admitted, "But I would always have honored our agreement."

He turned to go.

"Stay!" called the other goblin. He picked up the sword. "The sword of Ragnuk the First. Forged by goblins. Stolen by wizards. Returned by wizards." He held it up reflecting the light from the torches on the wall. "And given by goblins to the wizards."

"What?" Griphook and Harry spoke almost at the same time.

"As a gesture of goodwill and thanks, the goblins will present the sword of … as a gift to Hogwarts in order of the dawning of a new era of goodwill between us."

"In exchange for…?" Harry asked, knowing the nature of goblins.

"It's a new age. The old ministry is gone. We want to meet with the new minister. Have him preside of the presentation of the sword at Hogwarts, let it be public. Let the wand carriers see that the goblins are strong and powerful and deserve equality and representation. We trade our past," he threw the sword down on the table, "for a future. Can you arrange that, Harry Potter?"

"I can try." Harry said hesitantly.

"We will hold the sword until you do," he said. He nodded to Grathnor, who had remained at the door. He motioned to Harry, Ron and Hermione and they followed him out of the cavern.


	2. The Dawning of a New Day

Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister for Magic, had declared an official holiday on the one day anniversary of the defeat of Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic employees would be given a holiday and Gringotts, the wizarding bank would be closed. The announcement of the holiday was printed everywhere, The Daily Prophet, the Quibbler, and posted in most wizarding establishments. A more exclusive invitation was Owled to the Hogwarts parents and alumni: on the holiday, during a ceremony on the lawn at Hogwarts celebrating the defeat of Lord Voldemort, the goblin community would present the sword of Godric Gryffindor officially and in perpetuity to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The day dawned clear, which, Professor Flitwick, the charms instructor, said afterwards was a relief because it meant less work for him. People and goblins filed into Hogwarts and the voice of Hagrid, keeper of the keys and grounds, could be heard above the din as he directed people to their seats.

From the Forest surrounding Hogwarts, the centaurs watched from the edge of the forest. The centaurs felt themselves superior to wizards and not bound by the wizard laws, which considered them beasts rather than sentient beings, but even they were curious to see if the goblins could find acceptance within the ministry. Goblins never relinquished a claim on a goblin-made item, so this was, even amoung the stars, unprecedented. The centaurs had never accepted overtures from the ministry to declare them sentient beings, as it should be obvious without saying. Centaurs were amoung the longest-lived creatures and they measured time in spans and eons rather than days, months, and years and relied on the portents in the stars as a muggle might rely on the weather report to determine whether to carry an umbrella. The stars had shown the possibility of a new age of tolerance, but whether or not it would come to be was an answer for time and was not guaranteed by the heavens.

In the Hogwarts' lake, a small crowd of merpeople were gathered. Like the centaurs, they too had refused to be summoned to the ministry of magic to prove their being status, but unlike the centaurs, they did not object to interactions with people. They often enjoyed human company and the chance to witness such an event was quite a temptation to them, even though they generally preferred deeper waters than the shallows they watched from.

When everyone was settled, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, welcomed everyone to Hogwarts. "It's gratifying to see so many alumnus gathered here today to witness this historic event and to celebrate the one year anniversary of a battle waged in secret and won in daylight. The cost of the battle were high, Hogwarts lost many treasured sons and daughters, but the prize; to assure that future generations were free, must be considered worth the price. And we gather here as equals, witches, and wizards, regardless of lineage, goblins, merpeople, " she nodded towards the lake, "elves," looking towards the castle where the Hogwarts house elves stood watching, "and all who are interested." She did not call out the centaurs, knowing they would have preferred that people not know they were there. Firenze, one of Divination teachers, also a centaur, smiled at the dissimilation, wondering how his brothers would have felt had the headmistress embarrassed them by pointing out their presence. "And if we have learned nothing else from our past, let us at least have learned this, 'We are only as strong as we are united.' In that spirit of unity, I would like to introduce Bodrig, Head of the Brotherhood of Goblins."


	3. The Goblin's Speech

Bodrig was short with the usual dark skin of the goblin races, but had a lighter coloured beard, tapered stylishly to a point that was half as long as he was high. He was wearing a suit of goblin maille which was so shiny that he was almost obscured by it. Harry Potter, watching him from the front row, was struck by two points: the first, that he'd never been introduced to Bodrig, even though this was the goblin who had been in Griphook's office who had accepted the sword. He wondered what Griphook was doing meeting with the head of the Brotherhood of Goblins in his office. The second, that for armor, it looked extremely light and flexible. The suits of armor in the castle at Hogwarts didn't look half as comfortable as Bodrig looked. He whispered as much to the man sitting next to him, Bill Weasley, Ron's older brother, who worked as a treasure hunter for Gringotts.

"Goblin made armor is very comfortable," Bill replied, "That's another reason it's so prized. It's lighter as well as stronger. That suit's obviously very old. It is hard to find metal that pure anymore."

Bodrig wisely eschewed the podium, which was taller than he was, and walked to the front of the dais to address the crowd. His voice was loud, magnified. Harry wondered how, since he'd not seen a wizard cast a "sonorous" spell on him to amplify the goblin's voice. "This sword was made by Ragnuk the First, one of the greatest crafters the world has ever seen. It was his hand that forged the blade. It was his hand that set the stones. It was his hand that carved into the hilt the name of Gryffindor. It was his hand that received the payment; 250 gold Galleons, a princely sum at the time. And at that time, it passed from the possession of the goblins; but it never faded from our memories or our stories. The life of Godric Griffindor was as well-crafted and well decorated as his sword, and we goblins watched as our the work of our hands, of our hearts, reshaped your world. With the help of the sword, and his three friends, Griffindor founded the institution we honor today, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"That's laying it a bit thick." Muttered Ron from Harry's other side. Harry only grinned.

"As the centuries passed, the legend of the sword grew greater, not just within the wizarding world, but within the goblin world as well. No evil, no foe could stand against the sword as it faithfully protected its wizard commanders; never stilling, never faltering, rendering itself avaible to those with the courage and strength to call it and wield it." He unsheathed the sword from a holster on his back. His hand trembled slightly under the weight of the sword, but he straightened his arm and held it aloft. "This sword was made by my people! The hand that forged this weapon was Goblin! Last year this blade…" Bodrig shouted the word with a clear enunciation that reverberated around the clearing, "defeated the greatest enemy of the wizarding world! This year, it has an even greater task; to forge a bond between the makers and wielders! We hope that here, in this place of education and enlightenment, of great tests, and great learning; that young wizards and witches will see this sword, use it at need, and learn from it. Learn that change is possible. Learn that the wizarding community need not stand alone in time of danger. Learn that separatism and racism leads only to defeat and only through joining our forces can we be strong and at peace. During a time of war, a young wizard, Harry Potter, reached out, not only to wizards, but also to Elves and Goblins. My associate, Griphook, who assisted Harry Potter, asked me to specifically mention Dobby, the valiant free house elf who was killed fighting for the freedom of wizards, and was buried by Harry Potter's own hands, without magic. Harry Potter recognized what we all must recognize. That without unity, without all of us working together in harmony, we cannot prevail. Today will live in peace. If we are strong, if we are united, we can withstand any threat; we can continue to live in peace. To that end, the Brotherhood of Goblins has charged me with this sacred duty…" He lowered the sword and held it out in front of him, turning it to better catch and relect the light. "…to present this sword to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly in perpetuity as a symbol of magical cooperation and a recognition of that amoung equals there can be no division. This sword represents of best of Gobin tradition and the best of Wizarding tradition, unified in a single emblem. I challenge and encourage all you who witness this today to imagine what future collaboration could bring. This is the sword of Ragnuk; the sword of Gryffindor!"


End file.
